Is he a true Auteur?

Answering Question 5 of my initial question

In Alfred Hitchcock’s films there is a recurring style. It also occurs in this tower scene which is a voyeuristic feel and sexual undertone. These themes certainly occur in Psycho (1960), North by North-west (1959) Rear Window (1954) and much more of Hitchcock’s wider range of work. The ’Tower scene’ in Vertigo is important because you can see how this scene embodies so many elements of his work.

In film criticism, the 1950s-era Auteur theory holds that a director‘s films reflect that director’s personal creative vision, as if he/she were the primary “Auteur” (theFrench word for “author”). In some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar “Auteur” role for films that they have produced. In law the Auteur is the creator of a film as a work of art, and is the original copyright holder. Under European Union law the film director shall always be considered the author or one of the authors of a film.

Auteur theory has had a major impact on film criticism ever since it was advocated by film director and film critic François Truffaut in 1954. “Auteurism” is the method of analysing films based on this theory or, alternately, the characteristics of a director’s work that makes him an Auteur. Both the Auteur theory and the Auteurism method of film analysis are frequently associated with the French New Wave and the film critics who wrote for the influential French film review periodical Cahiers du cinéma.

^{(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory accessed 8th November 2009)}

Hitchcock was a true auteur, the first many would argue, and inspired the likes of François Truffaut and other French film-makers who loved the fact they could dissect his films, and generate meaning for the every detail. (This was expressed through the Reputations Documentary: Hitch: Alfred The Auteur’, Directed by Tim Kirby, Aired on BBC 2, 31/5/99)

Alfred Hitchcock rejoined the studio system with Paramount and showed his potential directing Rear Window (1954) Vertigo (1958) North By Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960) four films which have received cult status.

This is also explained in question 4.

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